The mortgage crisis, in cartoon form (has cursing, maybe NSFW?)

http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true&pli=1

by yummyfajitas • 18 years ago

127 25 18 years ago

docs.google.com

brentr6• 18 years ago

Bingo!

brentr6• 18 years ago

I included the comment because I thought the presentation was dead on. It certainly did capture the essence of the how the mortgage system works in this country.

It is because of the mortgage crisis and its spread to the general credit markets that I can't find a job in finance at this time. That's why I have made the decision to pursue a second undergraduate degree. I'm done with finance after supporting for three years the house of cards Wall Street built.

michaelneale3• 18 years ago

Well good luck with the studies - probably a good time.

allenbrunson2• 18 years ago

you got voted down for the "bingo!" comment because it was substance-less. your followup comment, however, was very good. that's the one you should have written in the first place.

maximilian2• 18 years ago

What are you going to get a degree in? I might suggest just jumping into a master's program to skip a lot of the cruft that comes with undergraduate programs. They might make you take some undergraduate courses, but only the really important ones - And the graduate courses you take will be hard, but you'll learn a lot from them. I'm doing something similar but in applied math. (i have a degree in engineering). I have a friend who studied physics as an undergrad and is now getting a masters in CS. They made him take a few undergraduate courses, putting him back a semester, but he doesn't have to wade through the full undergraduate curriculum.

Oh. And only take 3 courses/semester as a grad. student. You actually have a chance to learn it all thoroughly.

allenbrunson2• 18 years ago

maybe i'm just reading more comment threads than usual, but doesn't it look like we're under troll attack here?

i see an account that got to -40 karma an hour after being created. after you get a certain amount in the hole, shouldn't your ability to comment be disabled?

rms• 18 years ago

I figured the software did it, I guess PG is just normally quick with the dead button.

carpal2• 18 years ago

What the hell is going on with comments on this topic?

yummyfajitas2• 18 years ago

I have no idea. If it was my submission that caused it, I apologize to all YC readers out there.

PG, a feature suggestion: create a "Hide this user from me" button. By default, the list of hidden users could contain all users matching .* reddit.* (but without a space after the first * , that's only there due to YC markup rules).

edu• 18 years ago

I don't think you submission has anything to do with them. I suppose it's a simple case of being in the wrong side in the wrong moment.

boredguy8• 18 years ago

Maybe because this has been up here several times that I've seen, and I'm new. It was too much for someone to handle?

They should probably calm down a little.

carpal2• 18 years ago

(In case someone is late to the party, most of the crazy downvoting and weird crap has since been edited out)

michaelneale3• 18 years ago

A pretty good explanation (according to my limited understanding anyway). Can anyone who knows more about this confirm that it is as accurate as an amusing stick figure cartoon can be?

brentr6• 18 years ago

It is very accurate. The problem occurred with the "division of labor" that is clearly outlined in the presentation.

Many people took out loans that they couldn't pay for. They failed to understand the terms of their mortgage. It didn't help that the mortgage brokers had lowered their lending standards so low that almost anyone could walk in and get a mortgage.

It is true that most mortgage companies were simply in the business of brokering as many deals as possible. They didn't care because they just brokered the deal.

So the next logical group to place the blame on would be the banks. The banks, and their legions of loan officers, should not have allowed the loans to take place. Unfortunately, banks do take their mortgages and sell them on the open market to investment banks who end up wrapping them up in some derivative product.

A good reference work concerning the creation of the mortgage derivatives is a book by Michael Lewis titled Liars Poker. In the book Lewis describes how the mortgage derivatives industry came to be and how they founders of the industry went about valuing these products. It's not a rigorous review at all. That's why many people didn't even know what types of mortgages were in these products.

Like my other comment. The article is very accurate. I would like to see legislation to fix the industry as well as some civil and criminal cases because crimes were indeed committed.

ruslan• 18 years ago

Incredibly cool and effectively told :-)

Glimjaur• 18 years ago

I would label this with the "Not NSWF" marker.

nazgulnarsil• 18 years ago

Finance is tough job market. You don't have much job security and the risks go up as your position does. Most financial officers are one major fuckup away from a ruined career. All types of engineers are in the best position right now because everyone is desperate for more good engineers. Not just from the explosion of software engineering but also from all the baby boomer mechanical, chemical, and civil engineers on the verge of retirement.